It is known to provide amusement rides with a doubly looped, figure-eight or other closed track configuration, from which the car carrying the people can be suspended and even to provide a carriage on such a track from which the car is suspended swingably or floatingly and can rock back and forth relative to the carriage.
The car can carry a number of persons in individual seats or can have benchlike seats one behind the other with each seat carrying two or more people.
Dampers are provided between the car and the track or the rails thereof so as to minimize vibration and to prevent excessive movement from being transmitted to the rider.
In recent years such rides have become increasingly complex as the desire for excitement in the rider has increased and it is thus desirable at relatively low cost, even with simple track configurations, to provide a maximum of enjoyment by generating appropriate movement of the vehicle relative to the carriages and relative to the track. However, this should be done with due consideration to preventing nonenjoyable movements or perturbations and, certainly, without creating danger.
In German patent No. 861,369, for example, a ride is provided with gondolas of aircraft configuration pendulously suspended from the track. This system does not concern itself with problems which arise to the carriages and the track and thus may be satisfactory as far as it goes.
However, in practical realizations of these systems, problems have been encountered precisely at the points where the carriage is mounted on track and where the vehicle is suspended from the carriage.
German open application No. 23 06 385 shows a rider carrier fixed to two upright support arms which are suspended pendulously via running rollers and guide rollers. Here the running rollers are guided in channels which are disposed opposite to one another and are rigidly connected. A ball joint is provided for the arms supporting the rider carrier and means is provided to drive the assembly along a track. Over curved stretches, as a result of centrifugal force, the channels are inclined and lateral forces must be taken up by guide rollers. This system is not equipped to be used for curved tracks which also are inclined.
When the vehicle enters the curve, centrifugal forces are suddently generated and tend to swing the riders outwardly. The restoring force tends to swing the riders inwardly when the centrifugal force diminishes. The riders and the rider carrier thus swing back and forth past an equilibrium position. When the carrier leaves the curve, such swinging action can continue and resonance can develop to sustain the swinging action or even pose a danger to the rider.
German patent No. 2,329,423 attempts to relieve this problem by providing a rigid vehicle frame in which guide wheels with fixed axes are provided while the running wheels are journaled to the vehicle via a counterweight system.
The track is formed from four tubes forming the rails and these tubes are always horizontally disposed even on curves. Friction dampening elements are used to prevent a build-up of the pendulous oscillations and have a damping characteristic which is proportional to the angular offset from the equilibrium position. This friction damping element can be formed as a telescoping unit pivotally connected between the approximate vertical arm supporting the rider carrier and the vehicle chassis so that it describes a smaller radius than its pivot point on the carrying arm.
The forces effective at the pivot point on the chassis generate a torque on the latter which urges two of the wheels on a side of the vehicle chassis against the rails. The rocking wheels are additionally pressed against at the rails which can effectively brake them.
In practice, therefore, these earlier devices could not fully avoid undesired pendulous movements or stresses upon the ride carrier support and elements connected thereto which can lead to dangerous conditions.